Unsteady ▸ Jasper Hale [2]

III

THREE; OBLIVION

Months went by and neither of the Swan twins did much socializing, for different reasons. Bella was depressed because the Cullen's, more specifically Edward, left and had yet to come back. Cassadee stayed away from people as much as possible, afraid that she would suck them dry with her thirst. Although for some reason she was never as thirty when she was around her loved ones, she liked to think it was the fact that she would never imagine hurting any of them but she doubted it.

The oldest twin had the bigger problem but still seemed to socialize more. She went to La Push to hang out with Jacob to get her mind off of things, the first time didn't go over so well for Jacob when he saw her new appearance. He had seen her when she first returned home but either didn't notice or just didn't react. The teenage boy never came outright and said it but Cassadee knew that he knew she was a vampire. He was the only best friend she had left; the others left and trying to make conversation with Bella was like talking to a tree stump. Cassadee wasn't much for conversations these days but it would be nice to know that she was being heard. To have one of the people she trusted most to attempt to comfort her. But it was no use, she was stuck with her thoughts by herself.

"Cassie, what a surprise to see you." Billy said once he opened the door, the same uneasy look on his face as the night Cassadee returned home.

Cassadee ignored the look and gave the older man a smile, "Yeah, I thought it was time to get out of the house, thought I would hang out with Jacob."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Billy asked, making sure to block her way into the house with his wheelchair. "You don't seem well."

"I'm completely fine, Billy."
"Your pale skin and red eyes seem to say otherwise."

"Okay," Cassadee huffed, for some reason she wasn't completely surprised that Billy knew about vampires, especially after the story Jacob told her at La Push beach. "I haven't killed anyone yet, despite the fact that I have wanted to many times, so you don't have to worry about me around Jake."

"You could easily lose control." Billy pointed out. "Your kind is not even allowed on here."

"Can I please just talk to him?" Cassadee pleaded, "I need some amount of normalcy in my life and he's really the only one that gives me that at this point. If I hurt him you can kill me yourself."

Billy watched the eldest Swan daughter for a moment, making sure that she was truly being sincere. "You might want to get contacts." He moved his wheelchair out of the way just enough to let Cassadee in. She thanked him before going to Jacob's small room.

"Hey, stranger." Jacob smiled, it dropping as soon as he looked at her. "You're not Cassie."

"Of course I'm Cassie." She replied, but she wasn't being completely honest. She was Cassadee, just an alternate version. An immortal version that couldn't cry or sleep no matter how much she wanted to.

"No," Jacob shook his head. "You're not. You're about ten times paler than you used to be and your eyes are bright red, not brown."

"Well, ten times paler might be a bit of an exaggeration." Cassadee pointed out, trying to avoid the heartbreaking feeling coming over her. "Please don't push me away, Jacob."

"You're not my best friend."

"Yeah, your best friend is dead inside." Cassadee wanted to cry but of course she couldn't, no matter how much tears would well up in her eyes. "But I'm working on it. You just have to help me. You're my best friend. You and my dad are the only two that make me any amount of happy these days."